7-Foot High School Star Thon Maker Will Try to Skip College and Go Right to the NBA
Thon Maker is a seven-foot Sudanese phenom who has been playing high school basketball at the Athlete Institute in Ontario, Canada, who has a marvelous ability to score by using his size down low or by busting out a crossover dribble to get to the hole.
Now, Maker wants to take his talents to the game’s highest level, bypassing that stage in the middle called “college.”
RELATED: Watch 7-Foot-1 High School Phenom Thon Maker Throwdown a Nasty Put-Back Dunk
The 19-year-old Maker announced he will apply for early entry into the 2016 NBA Draft. Maker’s legal guardian, Ed Smith, believes the athlete meets the NBA’s requirements to be accepted. Maker does meet the league’s minimum age, but the issue NBA commissioner Adam Silver will have to rule on is whether Maker could be considered one year removed from high school. Maker and Smith will argue that the athlete’s 2015-2016 campaign was technically his fifth prep season, akin to a graduate program, and that he should, therefore, be able to enter the draft.
If Silver needs evidence that Maker can play, just look at what this dude can do:
The NBA hasn’t offered any indication of when it might address Maker’s request. The athlete hasn’t officially submitted the necessary paperwork, and anyway many experts are saying that Maker is too raw and will need at least a year in the NBA’s Developmental League.
RELATED: Steph Curry’s little brother spent time in the D-League. Here’s what it was like.
Regardless, there’s no denying that Maker’s ability to dribble, shoot 3’s and run the floor make him a unique player, and his rookie season in the NBA—whenever it comes —will be fascinating to watch.
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7-Foot High School Star Thon Maker Will Try to Skip College and Go Right to the NBA
Thon Maker is a seven-foot Sudanese phenom who has been playing high school basketball at the Athlete Institute in Ontario, Canada, who has a marvelous ability to score by using his size down low or by busting out a crossover dribble to get to the hole.
Now, Maker wants to take his talents to the game’s highest level, bypassing that stage in the middle called “college.”
RELATED: Watch 7-Foot-1 High School Phenom Thon Maker Throwdown a Nasty Put-Back Dunk
The 19-year-old Maker announced he will apply for early entry into the 2016 NBA Draft. Maker’s legal guardian, Ed Smith, believes the athlete meets the NBA’s requirements to be accepted. Maker does meet the league’s minimum age, but the issue NBA commissioner Adam Silver will have to rule on is whether Maker could be considered one year removed from high school. Maker and Smith will argue that the athlete’s 2015-2016 campaign was technically his fifth prep season, akin to a graduate program, and that he should, therefore, be able to enter the draft.
If Silver needs evidence that Maker can play, just look at what this dude can do:
The NBA hasn’t offered any indication of when it might address Maker’s request. The athlete hasn’t officially submitted the necessary paperwork, and anyway many experts are saying that Maker is too raw and will need at least a year in the NBA’s Developmental League.
RELATED: Steph Curry’s little brother spent time in the D-League. Here’s what it was like.
Regardless, there’s no denying that Maker’s ability to dribble, shoot 3’s and run the floor make him a unique player, and his rookie season in the NBA—whenever it comes —will be fascinating to watch.